Save the Fallen Hero
by The Alice Queen
Summary: Her mission: To prevent Crisis Core character/hero Zack Fair from dying his predetermined death. Rated T for language. Cloti, Yuffentine, ZackxOC.
1. The REM Sleep Proposition

Hello everyone!

It's been so long since I've written anything on this account, but now I'm starting to have more time available to write! I've finally decided to write a Final Fantasy 7 story, and I hope that I bring even a little bit of fun to anyone who reads this. I would prefer constructive criticism to flames, thank you.

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy 7 and its respective (and awesome) characters to not belong to me.

There was no way in hell this was happening.

"It's only supposed to happen with the flickering television and eerie blue light." She muttered to herself.

"I assure you, I'm quite real." The figure retorted calmly, her heart-shaped face giving off a hint of her sweet disposition. She clasped her hands together, as if she was praying.

"Recognize this pose?"

The other figure scoffed. Off course she knew that pose; praying HOLY was not hard to distinguish to a final fantasy seven follower.

Especially with this certain Cetra…

"It's your HOLY prayer. Anything else, Aerith-san?"

Aerith bit her lip in concentration. Then she smiled again, childish fascination on her face.

"What was Zack's nickname as a SOLDIER in ShinRa?"

"The puppy of course."

"And Sephiroth's 'mother?"

"Genova? What about her? Or did you mean Lucrecia?"

Aerith giggled into the palm of your hand. "Perfect, you're hired!" she exclaimed, her braid bouncing behind her.

The figure raised her eyebrow; Aerith's antiques were mostly unknown to her.

After all, her only observation of her had been based duly on the final fantasy seven games.

"Aerith, you're not even real. And if you were, I'd be gushing to you about right now. Besides, why all the questions?"

Aerith nodded, looking off in the distance nonchalantly. "Off course you'd want to know that." She turned to look at the other figure directly, a gleam in her clear green eyes.

"What if I told you that the world of The Planet was real?"

"I wouldn't believe you."

"What about that Zack and Cloud were alive and human?"

"That even less."

"Why?"

The figure replied curtly. "There is no way in hell that men that sexy can be real."

There was a pause, before Aerith burst into a fit of laughter, which led to her holding her stomach for fear of falling onto the ground and crushing the illusion of her precious flowers.

The figure's oval face broke into a smile. No one could really be irritated by Aerith.

Even if she was a dream created by the brain's REM stage of sleep.

Aerith then straightened up, before turning back to the unnamed figure, a solemn disposure pronounced by her new serious expression.

"Well, whether you believe me or not, I want you to do me a favor."

The figure sighed, shaking her head slowly. Her behavior was actually quite anomalous.

"Aerith, none of you are real! Don't I wish! What would this favor do?"

Aerith's reply sent chills down her spine.

" You would prevent Zack Fair from receiving his untimely death at the hands of the ShinRa army."


	2. The Real Cetra Cosplayer

Final Fantasy 7 and its respective characters do not belong to me.

When the war of the beasts brings about the world's end,  
the goddess descends from the sky.

_-LOVELESS, Prologue_

"Wow. You actually saw her? Was she dressed like in Crisis Core or in Advent Children? Tell me Sveta!"

"You make it sound like I actually saw the real Aerith, Luiza. Do you need help with that costume, there?" Sveta looked up from adjusting her own costume, surveying her close friend of four years.

"No, I'll be fine thank you." Luiza bent down to tie her shoes. "Now, come, tell your dear friend about dream Aerith."

Sveta smiled, tying her long hair up in a high ponytail. "If you help me braid this, I'll tell you what she said."

Luiza quickly hopped over to where Sveta was and started to braid.

"It was the Advent Children outfit."

"Cool, but that means that she's dead already."

"Remember Luiza, this is a dream!" Sveta teased, applying some mascara to her thick lashes before continuing. "She asked me to do her a favor."

"What kind of favor?" Luiza had already finished braiding and was working on tying a pink ribbon at the top of the ponytail.

"She didn't say. But she did say that if I agreed I would save Zack from dying 'at the hands of the ShinRa army'."

"Aw, it's your inner fangirl wishing to set justice to the world by saving poor Mr. Fair. I pity you." Luiza tutted, before grinning at her best friend. "It's weird, you really look like her."

"Not really. She didn't have gold highlights or hazel eyes, did she?"

"You tell me. You're the one who saw her!"

"Says the person who dreamed Sephiroth stopped by for tea and cake on her un-birthday." Sveta looked at her friend out of her corner of her eye.

"Hey! He was a fine gentleman!" Luiza pondered, a finger resting on her chin. "It must have been before he turned psycho." She concluded. "We even had a discussion on the book that Genesis had been carrying around, that LOVELESS play."

She watched Sveta put some money in a small purse. "You know, it's as if you didn't want to see her. Think about the inspiration for fanfiction!"

Sveta looked up and blew a chin-length bang away that had been blocking her vision. "I don't know. In a normal dream I would have been excited beyond comprehension; last night seemed like a bad omen."

Luiza twisted her brows in consternation. "But you said you don't believe it's her."

Sveta nodded. "Off course I don't believe it's her. But she's mostly dead in the games. She might be sweet, but seeing her in her Advent Children costume…not to mention in the field of flowers…"

Luiza nodded. It either means bad luck in being dead in the lifestream, or that you've watched Final Fantasy Advent Children too many times."

Both girls laughed before they grabbed their bags and left the small apartment, locking the door behind them.

"How's the wig?" Sveta asked as both girls managed to go through security. The dealer's room was close by, but the girls were intent on getting a bite to eat before they started to shop.

"I think I might have to check on its placement." Luiza replied, tugging the Tifa-esque wig, which was covering her platinum blonde hair.

"All right, how about I find us a place to eat while you're in the bathroom?" Sveta suggested. There were quite a few shops down the hall. The convention was situated in quite a large area this year.

"Sure, I'll find you when I'm done." Luiza replied, before dashing off hurriedly so that no one would guess 'Tifa' was actually a blonde in disguise.

Sveta smiled at her departing friend before turning to walk the opposite direction.

It wasn't that Sveta hated talking to 'Aerith' the previous night; it was the fact that it all seemed too real. Usually dream 'encounters' like this inspired her to write, but this dream gave her a weird feeling in her gut.

She stopped outside a Japanese tea restaurant. 'Luiza would like to have lunch here'. She concluded, before coming closer to the door to see the menu choices.

All of a sudden a middle aged waiter emerged from the teashop. As he looked around observing the crowd of cosplayers, his eyes landed on her. She smiled in greeting, but before she could inquire more about the menu he came up to her, an urgent air around him.

"Ah, Miss, your friend is expecting you inside, please come with me." He gestured to the inside of the restaurant, comprised of a number of secluded booths.

Sveta was confused. "I'm sorry sir, but I don't understand what you mean."

The waiter nodded sagely. "Ah, she said that you would not, but she says it's very urgent."

Sveta knew it wasn't Luiza; she wouldn't have been able to come before her. She sighed and followed the waiter in. Who knew, maybe another one of her friends had seen her looking at the menu outside.

The waiter led her to an even more secluded booth, one that had a curtain concealing the entrance. Pulling the curtain to one side, he motioned for Sveta to enter, which she did, albeit with uncertainty.

The person who greeted her shocked her.

"Well, you did a pretty good job! I must commend you, I think we could be twins!" Aerith exclaimed, the same gleam in her eyes as in Sveta's dream the previous night.

Sveta easily sat on the cushioned booth then. She felt faint.

Aerith turned to the waiter. "We'll have two green teas, please."

He smiled and nodded, before drawing the curtain, leaving Sveta and Aerith in solitude.

Sveta put a hand to her forehead. "I must be developing the early stages of schizophrenia."

Aerith grinned. "Nope, your mental health is impeccable. But I told you, I'm quite real, and so is Cloud, Tifa, Marlene Denzel, and anyone else you can name."

Sveta put her hand down. "So Zack is real, too. And ShinRa…"

Aerith nodded, becoming solemn again.

"Why me, Aerith?" Sveta asked bluntly.

Aerith smiled, but it wasn't genuinely happy. "Zack was too young to die. In a way, I was, too. I want to fix that. You can help, you have the knowledge, I'm sure."

Sveta sighed, but she could feel her determination brewing. "I'm only seventeen. I haven't even played through the whole of Final Fantasy Seven, let alone Dirge of Cerberus! Why not any other fan?"

There was a pause. Aerith seemed to contemplate for a few seconds, before she looked up at Sveta.

"Because you were the first I found, and I believe in my judgment. You care deeply for others, you are accustomed to our world." She smiled amusedly at Sveta.

"And you also care about Zack. I warn you; it's not going to be pretty. I won't even be dead yet, so I won't know what is going on. I'm using all the power I can do send you back to before everything happened."

"Everything? As in-"

"Let's say before Sephiroth went 'psycho'." Aerith finished, the gleam in her eye returning.

Sveta was quiet.

"Here," Aerith said, taking a small bag next to her and pulling something out. "This is for you."

Sveta looked at the object in Aerith's palm. Materia.

"Oh my." Sveta breathed, reaching out with her right hand to lightly touch the small sphere. It felt cool underneath her fingertips, but also as light as a marshmallow.

"Take it," Aerith said, and placed it in Sveta's open palm. "Use it to your advantage. I must be going."

Sveta blinked.

Aerith was gone.

"Isn't there anything else I'm supposed to know?" she said glumly to the other empty side.

But the material was still in her hand. She looked around before stowing it in her bag.

The curtain to the booth slid open to one side quickly.

"There you are!" Luiza exclaimed, pointing a finger at her friend.

"Wha-"

"Do you know how many restaurants I had to search, asking for 'Aerith'?"

Sveta sighed and offered her friend an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, have a seat."

Just then the waiter returned with the two green teas Aerith had ordered.

"Ah, well how kind of you to order my favorite drink, Sveta!" Luiza said, smiling as she took a cup for herself. "I forgive you, then."

Sveta glanced at the waiter. He didn't even seem to notice his original customer was missing.

As she took a sip of the hot but calming tea, she could swear she heard Aerith's voice, like a feather, whispering in her ear.

"_Don't worry, I'll tell you more soon…"_


	3. Across the World Divide

_Disclaimer: Final Fantasy 7 and its respective (and awesome) characters to not belong to me._

_Wings of light and dark spread afar,_

_She guides us to bliss, her gift everlasting._

_-LOVELESS, Prologue [Interpreted]_

The convention, in the end, had resulted with Sveta bringing home a large plastic bag full of objects that only a true anime fan would treasure; conventions were not common and therefore Sveta's purchases seemed priceless.

Along with her new Naruto Itachi necklace, moogle plush [as well as a Sephiroth one for Luiza for her next birthday], and other various anime memorabilia, she had went ahead and purchased a Final Fantasy 7 Story Guide.

It was a used copy, old but only slightly faded. Interestingly enough, it must have been made after Crisis Core was published a few years earlier; it included character profiles and a detailed description of the plot. It was a small volume, only about fifty or so pages thick.

Sveta turned to a random page in the back and shuddered; there in front of her was Zack Fair in his last moments, bleeding wounds and all. Obviously a cut scene illustration, she glanced at the title of the page.

**The Fallen Hero.**

The gut-wrenching feeling returned.

She shut the book, positioning it next to her on the bed. Glancing over to the clock, which read 10:33, she decided she would hit the sack.

She couldn't understand the continuous ominous feeling she had when seeing illustrations of Zack lately; he was indeed her favorite Final Fantasy character, yet no matter how much she had cried the first time she viewed the end scene of Crisis Core, this feeling was even worse.

It was a feeling of loneliness.

Like she had really known him before he died.

Pulling over the covers, she glanced at the FF7 Guide once more before placing it under her pillow, then succumbing once again to her unpredictable dreams.

"See? I told you we'd meet again!" Aerith greeted, once again in her field of flowers.

Sveta nodded; this time she was not afraid.

"I want to save him."

"Oh?" Aerith couldn't keep the grin off of her face.

Sveta grinned back. "So, what's the plan?"

Aerith clasped her hands together. "I'm sending you to before the Meteor. Specifically, I'm sending you to the Crisis Core period."

Sveta nodded once again. "What else will you tell me?"

"Well, I will try and keep in touch with you at some point; do not attempt to talk to my past counterpart about this; she will have no knowledge of what is planned."

Aerith pulled another object out of her pocket. Striding over to Sveta, she smiled reassuringly before taking the object in her hand and pressing it to Sveta's forehead.

Sveta suddenly felt light as a feather, until Aerith finally pulled her hand away.

"I've given you some of my power from the lifestream. This will allow you, to some extent, to have some sort of physical advantage in our world."

Sveta internally grinned; she was starting to enjoy the idea of entering the world of her favorite game, even if it was for a serious reason.

Aerith placed the object in Sveta's hands, closing her fingers around them, before glancing up to look Sveta straight in the eyes.

"I loved him like my own brother. Good luck, Sveta. Take care."

Before Sveta could say more, Aerith smoothly pushed her back. Sveta expected to fall into a bed of flowers, but the only thing she fell in was a void of black.

And just like that, everything went dark.


End file.
